overextend
verb
overextend is spelled O-V-E-R-E-X-T-E-N-D: 10 letters and 4 syllables. It appears about once in every 19 million words in written English, the 133,440th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a verb, overextend means “To expand or extend to an excessive degree, especially to do so beyond a safe limit; to overreach” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in overextend?
| Letters | 10: O-V-E-R-E-X-T-E-N-D |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 4 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 19 million words; the 133,440th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is overextend?
Overextend appears about once in every 19 million words in written English, the 133,440th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce overextend?
- US
Overextend has 4 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Flame,_not_lame-overextend.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of overextend
- overextends present, singular, he/she/it
- overextending participle, present
- overextended participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does overextend mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
verb
- 1
To expand or extend to an excessive degree, especially to do so beyond a safe limit; to overreach.
- 2
To apply (a term) to too many referents, by overextension.
- 3
To push a pawn too far, so that it becomes vulnerable to the opponent's attacks.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Where does overextend come from?
From over- + extend.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).